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Excuse my French

Has anyone else noticed that the new French manicure could not be farther than that traditional, stuffy look with little white caps and a pink base? Well, I’m personally quite relieved. But I wasn’t sure how the actual French felt about this turn of the trends until I ran into one at work the other day and she literally raced through her minimal English vocabulary to compliment me.

Love this! Trying it next week...

I was sporting Essie’s “Mink Muffs” on all ten fingers and then capped off two of them with a hot pink Chanel “Riviera” French-ing. I thought the look was cool and funky but just subtle enough to keep me from making a tsk-worthy faux pas at work. Never did I expect a French stranger in Helmut Lang pants, a Chanel bag and Ferragamo flats to stop me in my tracks and declare, “Your nails! So chic, so French!”

Does anyone know how to say “yay!” en français?

So, after that little foray into the new French manicure received raves, I decided to move on to new territory. A friend told me of a mani she’d seen that involved two different blacks–matte on the majority of the nail with super-glossy at the tips. Oh, I thought. Texture. Of course. So, today I did my own little experiment with texture and I promise you can do it at home. I whipped out my trusty Essie “Really Red” and applied three glossy coats. Then I swept my Luxeffects across just the top in one fluid motion on each nail for a glittery faux-French.

Subtle, yet sparkling. You get the idea--though they look much cuter in person!

If you’re super anal, you can hold your hands up to a lamp so the light will shine through your nail creating a little stencil to follow. Or, like me, you can just wing it. And pat yourself on your very chic back for breaking with convention and having some fun.